Monday, October 21, 2013

Week #34 - Don't you quit - keep walking, keep trying!

Well, maybe not literally `all` (those quotations marks were
really hard to find on this keyboard by the way, so I hope you appreciate them,
ha ha) but certainly to all those
I love :)

Making homemade pasta

Also, side note. In the past 2 weeks, I have gotten all sorts
of reactions from people telling me that `wow, sounds like your Spanish is
really coming along!` and I got to wondering.... is that just a nice way to
tell me that my English stinks now? Ha ha, I think so :) Sorry for all my
tangles! I'm all sorts of a mess now - I can't speak in English OR Spanish!

Sitting down to yummy food!

For starters, summer is coming in! And by summer, I mean
`still spring, but it's stinking hot and it hit about 95 this past week, and hoooo boy. I was feeling it. How so? Couple
of different ways.

1) I discovered that the greatest irony thus far for my mission... I
seriously shower more than any other time of my life - we`re talking 3 showers
a day sometimes - and simultaneously, have never smelled worse, ha ha :) It is
so hot!

2) suuuuunnnbuuuurnnn!! It's a bad one :) I had my hair in a
french braid one day this last week, and the back of my neck got burned bad!
But the best part is? According to Hna Nunja, my neck looks like the flag of
Peru since it has a giant white stripe in the middle from my french braid, ha ha
:) (feel free to google the Peruvian flag to check that out, because don't even know what it looks like :)

3) Bugs, bugs, bugs. On the plus side, I've learned that the
Argentine mosquitoes love on us white folks almost as much as the dogs do.
Therefore, my legs are covered in mosquito bites, and I've even got two
different spider bites to match (don't worry Mom - they`re not poisonous or
anything, and I've been religiously using my lavender essential oil :)

Another funny fact from this week that isn't actually related
to the heat at all. I learned that although I am literally on the other side of
the continent and no where near WA, I still have the same following
conversation with the Argentine people here:

Hna Lake - Yep, I'm from WA

Arg - WA? Really? Have you ever been to Forks before?

Hna Lake - `cue exasperate sigh`

Yep, I still have people ask me about Twilight, even in Argentina,
ha ha :) It makes me laugh every time, especially since this conversation
occasionally takes place in RS or with the older Hnas in the ward, ha ha
:)

I've thought a lot about tribulation in our lives - not necessarily the power that tribulation has
over us (because the opposite is true) but rather the power we have due to our
agency, decisions, and attitudes. What seems unconquerable can be overcome through these mediums and nothing is more powerful than that. On that note, I rediscovered a quote that I had cut out of an Ensign while I was
in TN that I love:

Every one of us has times when we need to
know things will get better. My declaration is that this is precisely what
the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need.
There is help. There is happiness. 4To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I
say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to
you in His “more excellent ministry” with a future of “better promises.”

Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep
trying. There is help and happiness ahead. It will be all right in the
end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.” Some blessings come
soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who
embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.

I testify that there is no other way to true happiness, except
through the Son of God, our Savior. You cannot do this on your own; He wants to
help you. He is trying to help you. Please, please, please let him. It will all
be alright in the end :)

These are just a few of the topic addressed. If you have any questions, please visit this website or request to meet with the LDS missionaries serving in your area (similar to how I'll be serving in Argentina), who will provide reliable and true answers to any questions you may have. You can request to meet with LDS missionaries HERE: